CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the Metro service of former board member Kathleen DeSilva.

Mayor Sylvester Turner on Friday named two new Metro board members and reappointed two others - taking a more moderate course than his predecessor, who replaced all five of the city's appointees.

Disability rights advocate Lex Frieden and construction oversight manager Troi Taylor will join the board, presumably in April once the City Council and the Metropolitan Transit Authority's board approve them. They will join current members Christof Spieler and Sanjay Ramabhadran, whom the mayor opted to retain. On March 4, Turner tapped former board member Carrin Patman, an attorney, as board chair.

Counting Patman, three of Houston's five appointees to the nine-member board served before Turner took office in January. Former Mayor Annise Parker, who took office when Metro was struggling with its finances, services and public confidence, appointed five new board members in 2010, and the board soon replaced the CEO.

Projects delayed

Transit remains controversial in car-centric Houston, and some projects - notably an overpass along Harrisburg and the purchase of new railcars - have encountered delays and other problems. Metro, however, is putting some of its former missteps behind it. Two new rail lines opened 10 months ago, and the agency radically redesigned its bus system.

Challenges remain, however, including the rising cost of serving elderly and disabled riders via MetroLift. Frieden said these issues are more manageable than some suspect.

"You'd be surprised to see how effectively this system runs," he said, calling Houston a model for paratransit.

Frieden is the second person with a physical disability appointed to Metro's board, after Kathleen DeSilva, appointed by then-Mayor Lee Brown in 1998. DeSilva, who died in August, was appointed after Frieden and others challenged former Mayor Bob Lanier and Brown to add members of the disabled community to more city boards and commissions.

He is a nationally recognized leader in the independent living movement and in research into access to services by the disabled.

Taylor is a construction development specialist, notably in planning and building health care facilities. Turner said Taylor, a Houston native, has delivered 10 consecutive multi-million-dollar projects "ahead of schedule and under budget."

Taylor's father, Joseph, was a Metro bus driver for 18 years.

"I would ride on the bus just behind him and we'd talk," Taylor said.

"I think part of our job is going to be making alternative transportation attractive again," Taylor said, citing a "culture shift" necessary to draw more riders to light rail and buses.

No Hispanic appointee

Spieler, an engineer, has two years of eligibility left on the Metro board, which limits members to eight years of service. He said he is confident he can use his remaining time effectively. He was a chief architect of the bus system redesign that took effect in August.

"I think we can make the passenger experience better," Spieler said of his remaining priorities. "With this mayor and (Patman) I think there is a real energy to move forward."

Ramabhadran was appointed to the Metro board last year, leaving him seven years of eligibility. He is an engineer, and as a board member has been active in the transit agency's capital improvement program and finishing the light rail projects.

The appointments and reappointments were met with some concern, specifically as Turner trumpeted the diversity of the group's backgrounds.

"It's disappointing that the board nominees are not more representative of the diverse communities Metro serves," Councilman Robert Gallegos said, noting the decision leaves the city without a Hispanic appointee. "The population of the city of Houston is nearly half Hispanic, and the community I represent, where much of Metro's work is concentrated, is over 77 percent Hispanic."